Republic of Ireland Team Talk/News/Rumours 2017

fyfe79

Just thinking about it now, but Scotland have really helped us over the last few days. Firstly, their last minute winner against Slovakia cost Slovakia the point that would've taken them ahead of us in the play-off 8th spot and secondly, kindly not beating Slovenia last night thus allowing us to leapfrog both them and the Slovaks.

Good lads, the Scots.

tayto lover

fyfe79 wrote: »

Just thinking about it now, but Scotland have really helped us over the last few days. Firstly, their last minute winner against Slovakia cost Slovakia the point that would've taken them ahead of us in the play-off 8th spot and secondly, kindly not beating Slovenia last night thus allowing us to leapfrog both them and the Slovaks.

Good lads, the Scots.

It was also one of their players, Gary McKay, who scored against Bulgaria away in 1988. That goal took us to the finals of the Euros.

unplayable

Ireland play South Africa in rugby in aviva on the 11th. I assume we are at home First leg if second seeds. Therefore I’m sure we will request to have the Home leg on the 9th to avoid 2 games in 24 hours on aviva pitch. No way rugby can be rescheduled

Just FYI if anyone looking to book flights/hotel the first leg will surely be 9th in Dublin.

dr.kenneth noisewater

unplayable wrote:

Ireland play South Africa in rugby in aviva on the 10th. I assume we are at home First leg if second seeds. Therefore I’m sure we will request to have the Home leg on the 8th to avoid 2 games in 24 hours on aviva pitch. No way rugby can be rescheduled

unplayable wrote:

Just FYI if anyone looking to book flights/hotel the first leg will surely be 8th in Dublin.

There was 2 games in less than 24 hours over the weekend just gone. It'll be on the 11th or 9th id say

PhilipsR

unplayable wrote: »

Ireland play South Africa in rugby in aviva on the 10th. I assume we are at home First leg if second seeds. Therefore I’m sure we will request to have the Home leg on the 8th to avoid 2 games in 24 hours on aviva pitch. No way rugby can be rescheduled

Just FYI if anyone looking to book flights/hotel the first leg will surely be 8th in Dublin.

The rugby is on the 11th. The last day a second leg can be is the 14th. So we can do either. The draw doesn't guarantee the seeded team a home tie for the second leg either.

One thing to note is that it can't be the day after the rugby, as both teams are due a training session on the pitch the day before. Captains run usually occur the day before a rugby game in the ground also.

So if we're at home first leg, it'll be the 9th (earliest day possible) and if we're at home second, it'll be 13th/14th.

ionadnapokot

tayto lover wrote: »

I'd be of the opinion that we have a better chance against them than any of the others.

Not so sure about that.
They sacked their manager last week
They have an amazing amount of talent in midfield
Ireland would never see the ball & it would be death by a 1000 passes

Would much prefer a less technical type team. Even Italy

exiledelbows

Also we can't get Northern Ireland. Them losing in Norway put paid to that

ionadnapokot

The Talking Bread wrote: »

I agree.

I'd take Croatia. They are at their worst ebb in a decade and a half and, yes they won away tonight (this Ukraine team are far from anyway brilliant), they are also on a poor run of results. In comparison Denmark are a team on a great unbeaten run and brimming of confidence with some very good technical players also. in their midfield and forward line, all playing at top level clubs .

Just saw Bendtner is their starting centre forward!!!

Shane Duffy eats Bendtners for breakfast

PhilipsR

PhilipsR wrote: »

The rugby is on the 11th. The last day a second leg can be is the 14th. So we can do either. The draw doesn't guarantee the seeded team a home tie for the second leg either.

One thing to note is that it can't be the day after the rugby, as both teams are due a training session on the pitch the day before. Captains run usually occur the day before a rugby game in the ground also.

So if we're at home first leg, it'll be the 9th (earliest day possible) and if we're at home second, it'll be 13th/14th.

Yes, Ireland or their seeded opponent can be home or away in the 1st leg.

One team will be drawn from Pot 1 and the other will be drawn from Pot 2, with the two balls then placed into a third pot. These two balls will be stirred again and drawn one by one. The first ball drawn will be the home team for the first leg. The same process will be repeated for the remaining balls in each pot.

http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/news/y=2017/m=9/news=fifa-world-cup-european-play-off-draw-to-take-place-on-17-october-2906954.html

Wrongway1985

TheQuietBeatle wrote: »

Amazing. This result might shut up some of the negative nancies on here for a short while.

The defence was outstanding tonight. Randolph was absolutely class and made a couple of brilliant saves.

Take it I'm one of those coz I haven't been glowing of O'Neill who I think is a very lucky man, we aren't there yet; we could've been.

That said we were left with no option when it came down to this, it was playoff spot showdown and we got over the line, 28% possession some spirited work from Hendrick chasing a lost cause after a brain fart from Hennessy and we got the vital goal from McLean, yes Randolph made 2 notable great saves but thankfully Wales offered very little for the ball they saw particularly thought their set plays were up to nothing, Duffy was brilliant for us too.

Roll on next week and see who we get thrown, still think we have a chance from some of those teams I'm hopeful despite my reservations over the 2 lads in charge.

Ferris_Bueller

Wrongway1985 wrote: »

Take it I'm one of those coz I haven't been glowing of O'Neill who I think is a very lucky man, we aren't there yet; we could've been.

That said we were left with no option when it came down to this, it was playoff spot showdown and we got over the line, 28% possession some spirited work from Hendrick chasing a lost cause after a brain fart from Hennessy and we got the vital goal from McLean, yes Randolph made 2 notable great saves but thankfully Wales offered very little for the ball they saw particularly thought their set plays were up to nothing, Duffy was brilliant for us too.

Roll on next week and see who we get thrown, still think we have a chance from some of those teams I'm hopeful despite my reservations over the 2 lads in charge.

I think it's unfair to say O'Neill is a lucky man. Germany home and away, Bosnia, Italy, Austria, tonight.. All huge results where we have beaten teams who we should not expect to be beating. Serbia, Georgia and Scotland have probably been the only 3 poor results we have had under him. Performances have not been brilliant all the time but in terms of results he is delivering. No other fourth seed gets to a playoff. We have just taken 4 points off the top seeds two campaigns in a row. How many good results do we need before it stops being luck?

BullBlackNova

Presenting this one without comment as I spotted it on Twitter and it made me say "huh...". Source @stephen_long on Twitter so any complaints can be directed that way!!

Since September 2015, Ireland have beaten teams ranked 2, 12, 13 & 20 in competitive games.

From 2002-2015, our best win was against a team ranked 33.

The_Kew_Tour

TheCitizen wrote: »

Wrong. I was asked by another poster what has MON brought to the set up since he took over? My answer was that on the big occasion he has the ability to steel his players and they play with no fear whereas other teams bottle it on the big occasion. I mentioned Scotland for example who were 1 up at half time but froze in the second half. MON has always had that man management ability to get the very best out of his players in terms of character.

We have had total difference on O Neill, but you did say we would win in Wales and I laughed at suggestion

So fair play, delighted to be proven wrong and hope I get it much worse next month.

COYBIG

Wrongway1985

Ferris_Bueller wrote: »

I think it's unfair to say O'Neill is a lucky man. Germany home and away, Bosnia, Italy, Austria, tonight.. All huge results where we have beaten teams who we should not expect to be beating. Serbia, Georgia and Scotland have probably been the only 3 poor results we have had under him. Performances have not been brilliant all the time but in terms of results he is delivering. No other fourth seed gets to a playoff. We have just taken 4 points off the top seeds two campaigns in a row. How many good results do we need before it stops being luck?

Teams extended to allow for qualification to euros!

Germany games are without question his biggest achievement the rest great results but reality is Italy were a weakened side already qualified and Bosnia were possibly the most keenly sought after opposition ahead of the draw.

Austria away result was unexpected at the time but it's shown they were no great shakes by the time of the home game a win wouldn't have been a stretch but it was!!..LUCKILY we somehow managed an equalizer late on.

Serbia conceded 4 more goals this campaign than us they were no great shakes either, our top seeds were Wales this time out, again was that not LUCK??. Should've been a dead rubber at the turn of year but penultimate game in end.

Performances have not been good all the time? Good performances?? Can count them on 1 hand

noodler

TheCitizen wrote: »

There's a clutch of characters on here that are pathetic miserable whingers. Anyone see "noodler" about tonight?

Wonderful win, bring on the play offs.

I was working you ****ing clown.

If you think you have some kind of monopoly on supporting the national team then you are a tad deluded.

Leave the fanboyism at the door next time you want to discuss football.

sligeach

https://twitter.com/JonWalters19/status/917493646638878721

Mantis Toboggan

https://twitter.com/Stephen_Long/status/917511684599803904

razorblunt

fyfe79 wrote: »

Just thinking about it now, but Scotland have really helped us over the last few days. Firstly, their last minute winner against Slovakia cost Slovakia the point that would've taken them ahead of us in the play-off 8th spot and secondly, kindly not beating Slovenia last night thus allowing us to leapfrog both them and the Slovaks.

Good lads, the Scots.

I thanked them on behalf of the Boys in Green in work this morning with doughnuts and Sainsbury's cookies!

The Welsh lad in the corner isn't talking to me yet, I'll have to take him for a lamb lunch I'd say.

TheCitizen

noodler wrote: »

I was working you ****ing clown.

If you think you have some kind of monopoly on supporting the national team then you are a tad deluded.

Leave the fanboyism at the door next time you want to discuss football.

:pac: The worst whinger of the lot of them. You've been proved wrong again, suck it up. Have a look at the stat in number 9154 on the thread.

Morrison J

Time to put the "McClean is a liability" or "red card waiting to happen" narrative to bed now I hope lads. Those guilty know who they are. Absolutely priceless player to us who will hopefully start getting the credit he deserves.

irishguitarlad

Lads Murphy was great last night, his hounding and chasing was unreal.

s3rtvdbwfj81ch

Morrison J wrote: »

Time to put the "McClean is a liability" or "red card waiting to happen" narrative to bed now I hope lads. Those guilty know who they are. Absolutely priceless player to us who will hopefully start getting the credit he deserves.

He was very lucky not to walk last night for 2 yellows.

The Talking Bread

Morrison J wrote: »

Time to put the "McClean is a liability" or "red card waiting to happen" narrative to bed now I hope lads. Those guilty know who they are. Absolutely priceless player to us who will hopefully start getting the credit he deserves.

One of the first names on team sheet for me but he easily could have got a red last night! The "red card waiting to happen cr*p is just a cheap reason offered by those who dislike him. (Could say same about Hendrick at times) Very needless challenge at very end by McClean when the ball was going for a throw! If they had got something from that free kick, god knows the reaction towards him.

It's part of who he is but yeah, definitely was on that tight edge last night!

The Talking Bread

The Talking Bread wrote: »

One of the first names on team sheet for me but he easily could have got a red last night! The "red card waiting to happen cr*p is just a cheap reason offered by those who dislike him. (Could say same about Hendrick at times) Very needless challenge at very end by McClean when the ball was going for a throw! If they had got something from that free kick, god knows the reaction towards him.

It's part of who he is but yeah, definitely was on that tight edge last night!

Sooooooo, you're saying he's not a red card waiting to happen...but he should have got a red card...

Morrison J

53 caps and still waiting for this mythical red card..

Would've been very harsh to have got one last night. Until he actually gets one that narrative needs binning.

Dearg81

Morrison J wrote:

Time to put the "McClean is a liability" or "red card waiting to happen" narrative to bed now I hope lads. Those guilty know who they are. Absolutely priceless player to us who will hopefully start getting the credit he deserves.

He can be be priceless and get all the praise yet still be a red card waiting to happen, I dunno why you think they have to be mutually exclusive. Plenty of ref's would have sent him off last night.

blinding

McClean is a great lad and got a great goal last night .

He certainly could have had two yellows last night and he did give away two needless free kicks in dangerous areas .

There is nothing wrong with mentioning both the good and the bad .

Well done to all of the lads . That was grinding out a result . I thought Artur did well last night for a fella that has not played much competitive stuff for us .

The Talking Bread

Deleted User wrote: »

The Talking Bread wrote: »

One of the first names on team sheet for me but he easily could have got a red last night! The "red card waiting to happen cr*p is just a cheap reason offered by those who dislike him. (Could say same about Hendrick at times) Very needless challenge at very end by McClean when the ball was going for a throw! If they had got something from that free kick, god knows the reaction towards him.

It's part of who he is but yeah, definitely was on that tight edge last night!

Sooooooo, you're saying he's not a red card waiting to happen...but he should have got a red card...

Oh shut up. Not what I said/meant at all. Stop fishing.

S.M.B.

The yellow card he picked up was a stupid challenge too needlessly shoulder barging into a defenders back as the ball was about to roll out for a throw.

Great to see that commitment to challenge for the ball but there's a time and a place for it and any sort of strong challenge needs to be executed perfectly.

PhilipsR

His pole-axing of Joe Allen was as important as his goal. Wales lost a lot of their composure and impetus once he went off.

yourdeadwright

We won which is fantastic but we only beat a Wales team with out Bale , There not a great team at all and at times ud swear it was Wigan against Barcelona,
Allen leaving the pitch early helped us no end,
I understand its a fantastic win but holy god we are awful at football, we must have strung about 6 passes together the whole game, We can not afford to be so bad on the ball in the play off,
Again great result but if people think we can't play better than that there mad,

s3rtvdbwfj81ch

S.M.B. wrote: »

Great to see that commitment to challenge for the ball but there's a time and a place for it and any sort of strong challenge needs to be executed perfectly.

No, not having it, that type of thing is not "commitment" or "passion" it's brain-dead stupidity.

DeanAustin

Not a fan of O'Neill or his brand of football but he's done very, very well with this group of players. We could have finished anywhere between 1st and 4th in that group so to finish second is a good achievement and means we're punching slightly above our weight.

Given that we've only ever once won a qualifying group, I don't think we can ever go into a campaign deeming second place anything other than success.

I can't see us beating any of the sides in a play off but I also couldn't see us beating Wales last night and we did with a very disciplined and brave performance. Fair play to the management and the players.

The Talking Bread

The Talking Bread wrote: »

Oh shut up. Not what I said/meant at all. Stop fishing.

It may not be what you meant. But sure I can't know what you meant, I can only go on what you wrote.

Which didn't make much sense. You gave out about those saying "he's a red card waiting to happen"...before suggesting he could have been red carded and even wondering about the reaction if they scored from the resulting free.

Morrison J

Dearg81 wrote: »

Morrison J wrote:

Time to put the "McClean is a liability" or "red card waiting to happen" narrative to bed now I hope lads. Those guilty know who they are. Absolutely priceless player to us who will hopefully start getting the credit he deserves.

He can be be priceless and get all the praise yet still be a red card waiting to happen, I dunno why you think they have to be mutually exclusive. Plenty of ref's would have sent him off last night.

He's not a red card waiting to happen though. The stats don't lie.

Since moving to Sunderland he's made nearly 300 career appearances and got 3 red cards. Nearly one in every 100 games. Going off averages we may well be waiting another 50 caps for this "red card waiting to happen."

Wheeliebin30

yourdeadwright wrote: »

We won which is fantastic but we only beat a Wales team with out Bale , There not a great team at all and at times ud swear it was Wigan against Barcelona,
Allen leaving the pitch early helped us no end,
I understand its a fantastic win but holy god we are awful at football, we must have strung about 6 passes together the whole game, We can not afford to be so bad on the ball in the play off,
Again great result but if people think we can't play better than that there mad,

And we were missing our captain and best player.

And Walters.

And macarthy.

Morrison J

Willa Narrow Vapidity wrote: »

Morrison J wrote: »

Time to put the "McClean is a liability" or "red card waiting to happen" narrative to bed now I hope lads. Those guilty know who they are. Absolutely priceless player to us who will hopefully start getting the credit he deserves.

He was very lucky not to walk last night for 2 yellows.

Since when is pushing a player who is running towards the sideline (going nowhere) a standard yellow card offence? Would've been incredibly harsh.

The Talking Bread

Deleted User wrote: »

The Talking Bread wrote: »

Oh shut up. Not what I said/meant at all. Stop fishing.

It may not be what you meant. But sure I can't know what you meant, I can only go on what you wrote.

Which didn't make much sense. You gave out about those saying "he's a red card waiting to happen"...before suggesting he could have been red carded and even wondering about the reaction if they scored from the resulting free.

I'm saying in the general context of his international career. Yes he could have been sent off last night, like Meyler, Clark etc but I don't see for example either of these labelled as such despite probably having a larger card to game ratio.

Another 2 big examples are Hendrick and Brady, particularly the latter (who has had a very average campaign but still picked up 2 suspensions and gets the STUPIDEST bookings most of time for club and country.

Do they have a similar label??

yourdeadwright

McClean played very well last night buit he does walk on the line of over stepping it and seems to becoming more mature,
Although that free at the end was so soft to give away ,
I wonder will McCarthy be fit for the play off , he would fit better in that style team than Arter ,
Also does anyone know when Walters is back ?

Rekop dog

yourdeadwright wrote: »

We won which is fantastic but we only beat a Wales team with out Bale , There not a great team at all and at times ud swear it was Wigan against Barcelona,
Allen leaving the pitch early helped us no end,
I understand its a fantastic win but holy god we are awful at football, we must have strung about 6 passes together the whole game, We can not afford to be so bad on the ball in the play off,
Again great result but if people think we can't play better than that there mad,

What's mad is people who necessarily think playing better equates to getting better results. We lost our one game in this group when we played at our best with some nice open passing football.

You can criticize the style all you like, maybe you prefer watching good football and not teams who set out to be defensively sound, and that's fine. But you still must realise for teams like Iceland the North or ourselves to mix it with technically better sides you have to offer something different to counteract their superior ability.

It's a results driven business at the end of the day. If playing nice and getting average results was what put bums on seats I'm sure we'd play that way. But what fills the Aviva is being in contention for qualification, being in playoffs, getting to big tournaments. The difference in attendance at a friendly prior to a world cup we've qualified for compared to if we we're not qualified is gigantic.

Martin will never be all that popular, and it's pretty sad in a way. People don't fully appreciate what's he's done for us, that's for sure. There's still some resentment there from a large uneducated proportion of our fanbase. But thankfully he's not perturbed by that and continues to do a stellar job for us.

The Talking Bread

yourdeadwright wrote: »

McClean played very well last night buit he does walk on the line of over stepping it and seems to becoming more mature,
Although that free at the end was so soft to give away ,
I wonder will McCarthy be fit for the play off , he would fit better in that style team than Arter ,
Also does anyone know when Walters is back ?

May not get back to starting 11 ! Certainly won't be first name on sheet if he is only just back

Hector Savage

http://www.uefa.com/european-qualifiers/news/newsid=2506867.html

Sorry why is it saying Ireland has 13 pts here ?

S.M.B.

Willa Narrow Vapidity wrote: »

No, not having it, that type of thing is not "commitment" or "passion" it's brain-dead stupidity.

Ah it is commitment, just channelled the wrong way and therefore shouldn't be lauded.

Father Hernandez

This thread can be poison at times.

Fact of the matter is we were a fourth seed who managed to finish second. Ifs and buts meant results could have put us anywhere between first and fourth. Not a fan of MON's tactics visually but they can be effective and they were spot on last night, defend and nick a goal which we duly did.

It can be awful to watch at times, Georgia game was a prime example but those moments of ecstasy like McCleans goal can really make up for it.

Wales could have been a different team with Bale on the pitch, Allen not going off but so could have Coleman, Long and Walters (top goalscorer under MON I believe) for Ireland. You can only play what's in front of you and we'll go into the play offs with confidence having beat a team who haven't lost at home in 4 years.

MON is the 10th best international manager in the world, getting to the WC would certainly justify that, can't agree if we don't. If we can get our tactics spot on again and a nice play off draw (Switzerland, Denmark, Croatia, Italy in that order I'd like) I'm optimistic seeing us go to the WC. McClean with his heart in his sleeve, Meyler been a revelation this campaign will be missed in the first leg and Duffy & Clark have been solid. Goes to show how much we miss Robbie Keane as an out & out international goalscorer but fingers crossed Maguire / Hogan could fill that void.

yourdeadwright

Wheeliebin30 wrote: »

yourdeadwright wrote: »

We won which is fantastic but we only beat a Wales team with out Bale , There not a great team at all and at times ud swear it was Wigan against Barcelona,
Allen leaving the pitch early helped us no end,
I understand its a fantastic win but holy god we are awful at football, we must have strung about 6 passes together the whole game, We can not afford to be so bad on the ball in the play off,
Again great result but if people think we can't play better than that there mad,

And we were missing our captain and best player.

And Walters.

And macarthy.

Lets be fair id rather miss them 3 and have Bale he's the one world class player either team have,
The 3 you mentioned we have decent cover, Bale wins games for Wales on his own
Anyway my point is Wales looked like Barcelona compared to us,
You know where bad when Moldova had more possession of the ball over the whole the group stages than we managed,

Billy86

Wheeliebin30 wrote: »

And we were missing our captain and best player.

And Walters.

And macarthy.

And Long, who I'd consider more important than McCarthy due to us having a decent platoon of CMs (nothing special, but it's one of our deeper areas); Murphy did OK last night at what he needed to do, but at the end of the day he's a 34 year old career Championship level player.

Billy86

yourdeadwright wrote: »

Lets be fair id rather miss them 3 and have Bale he's the one world class player either team have,
The 3 you mentioned we have decent cover, Bale wins games for Wales on his own
Anyway my point is Wales looked like Barcelona compared to us,
You know where bad when Moldova had more possession of the ball over the whole the group stages than we managed,

Put Bale in that team last night and they're stronger, but then take out Joe Allen, Aaron Ramsey, Ashley Williams and Ben Davies then to mirror our absences and they're a lot weaker again.

briany

yourdeadwright wrote: »

I understand its a fantastic win but holy god we are awful at football, we must have strung about 6 passes together the whole game, We can not afford to be so bad on the ball in the play off,

Martin O' Neill and his team probably agree with you, here. They might say, "We cannot afford to be so bad on the ball. Therefore, we will stay off it, and concentrate on maintaining our defensive shape, and strive to take advantage on the counter, and/or from set-piece play."

I'm not a fan of the defensive style because it makes for frustrating and stressful viewing, but what's not often said is that watching Ireland really try to pass the ball can be just as bad, because there isn't this feeling that an Irish pass to feet will find its man with that eerily magnetic precision reminiscent of the top, top teams. There's always that fear that it'll be misplaced, not only giving possession back to the opponents, but in a place deep in in Ireland's half, and before Ireland can defensively organise.

elefant

Hector Savage wrote: »

http://www.uefa.com/european-qualifiers/news/newsid=2506867.html

Sorry why is it saying Ireland has 13 pts here ?

Games against the bottom sides in each group don't count for the sake of calculating the top 8 runners-up.

PTH2009

Good god im sore all over

What a win what a night, I'd say Cardiff was mental

Please not Italy or Portugal (hopefully they win tonight) but it's good to be there and all teams are going to be tough. Getting drawn away first is essential